I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
shep1968 said:I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
steve_1979 said:shep1968 said:I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
There are four important steps to running in.
1. Switch on hifi.
2. Play music.
3. Enjoy music.
4. Stop worrying about running in.
steve_1979 said:shep1968 said:I've just bought some new Naim kit and it says it takes a long time to run in. How would you propose that i do this and how long will it take? Should i simply leave it switched on all day or do i need to play a CD for seven or eight hours at a time?
There are four important steps to running in.
1. Switch on hifi.
2. Play music.
3. Enjoy music.
4. Stop worrying about running in.
davedotco said:Running in electronics is a nonsense, just a device to get the owner to take a little time to adjust to the new sound or presentation.
Optimum temperature is a different issue, the measured characteristics of individual components (transistors, capacitors etc) will vary with temperature and competent design will take this into account. Most pieces of hi-fi equipment sound better at thier optimum temperature, in the case of high current devices such as power amplifiers, they reach this temperature quite quickly, low current devices such as dacs or pre-amps may take a lot longer to come up to temperature and may work best if left permanently powered up.
Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
Johnno2 said:Only thing I havereally noticed run in / break in is on a AT95E moving magnet cartridge, the cantiliver must loosen up and the tip gets a little polished well thats my take on it ,
davedotco said:Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
The_Lhc said:Johnno2 said:Only thing I havereally noticed run in / break in is on a AT95E moving magnet cartridge, the cantiliver must loosen up and the tip gets a little polished well thats my take on it ,
You might be right about the cantilever but a diamond being polished by vinyl?
The_Lhc said:davedotco said:Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
I'm sure last time this topic came up someone posted a link to a survey of speaker manufacturers asking them their thoughts on this matter, I believe, with one noticable exception, they all pretty much agreed that whilst speakers do need breaking in, it actually occurs in the factory during testing as it takes in the region of 10 seconds or so.
davedotco said:I recall that in my days as a dealer a fair number of speaker manufacturers with whom we had good relations were quite adamant about their products needing runing in. They may of course simply have been playing the 'give yourself time to adjust' card.
andyjm said:davedotco said:Running in electronics is a nonsense, just a device to get the owner to take a little time to adjust to the new sound or presentation.
Optimum temperature is a different issue, the measured characteristics of individual components (transistors, capacitors etc) will vary with temperature and competent design will take this into account. Most pieces of hi-fi equipment sound better at thier optimum temperature, in the case of high current devices such as power amplifiers, they reach this temperature quite quickly, low current devices such as dacs or pre-amps may take a lot longer to come up to temperature and may work best if left permanently powered up.
Speakers are different, they are mechanical devices and surrounds, spiders etc, may be a little stiff when new. Some usage will soften them and once again competent designers will have taken this into account, they will sound better after some use, how much use in impossible to say, but more than a week or so of normal use strikes me as excessive.
Dave explains it very well - I agree with all his points.
I have searched the web for some justification of Naim's position on running electronics in, as well as their 'directional speaker cables' claims. I have been unable to find any justification from them for either position. You would have though that if they had solid reasons for this that they would explain them.
The_Lhc said:I'm sure last time this topic came up someone posted a link to a survey of speaker manufacturers asking them their thoughts on this matter, I believe, with one noticable exception, they all pretty much agreed that whilst speakers do need breaking in, it actually occurs in the factory during testing as it takes in the region of 10 seconds or so.